Clans
Clans became an important part of the game starting in late 2012. In the game, a Clan represents an independent Mecha company. The "Clan" screen can be accessed via the Home tab. Creating a Clan If you are not currently part of a Clan, the Clan screen will give you the option to create your own. Type your Clan's name and motto in the indicated fields, and click "Submit"; note that both a name and a motto are mandatory. Players can create their own Clan at any level; they can also join an existing Clan at any level, provided that Clan's leader approves. Many Clans have a three-letter code (such as "AFF", "BBB", or "NWO") in their name, which indicates a series of informal ties and traditional rivalries. It is best not to include these tags in your own Clan's name, unless you are specifically invited to do so. Membership As of 2015, each Clan could normally have a maximum of 16 members, with a temporary maximum of 60 for certain in-game events like "Faction Wars". Both maximums have grown over time, and can be expected to grow further in the future. If a Clan does not have enough members by a particular deadline, they cannot participate in the associated game event: many Clans send "recruitment letters" to unaffiliated players about a week in advance. (Mail has its own sidebar, on the "Home" screen of the Home tab.) Needless to say, a player cannot be part of two Clans at the same time. Once they join a Clan, that Clan's message board -- called the "Comcenter" -- will appear on the Clan screen. A list of Clan members is located below the Comcenter, along with a graph displaying each player's performance (measured in the total weight of Mecha destroyed per day). Leaders also have the ability to add or expel members through this screen, and to add a visual logo. To be clearly seen while fitting in the available space, an image should be 180 pixels wide and 180 pixels tall, plus-or-minus a few pixels. Clan Events During a Clan-themed game event, Clans are matched against each other based on their average member level. For instance, a Clan of sixteen Level 10s has an "average level" of 10...but so does a Clan of fifteen Level 5s, plus one Level 85. The Clan leader determines when a Clan officially joins the game event: once this is done, all Clan members can access it through the Clan screen. The most frequent Clan events are "Clan Wars", which are held about once a month and last for several days. The format is something like the Olympics, with each participating Clan competing for gold, silver, and bronze medals. Each medal is accompanied by a certain set of prizes -- such as equipment or Mecha -- which will be given to all the members of the winning Clan. Naturally, gold-medal Clans get the best prizes. Players can also earn ferronite, bioptics, and experience during Clan War battles, just as they would in an ordinary player-''vs''-player battle. Another important type of Clan event is the "Raid", which is set up like a Mission's final boss, but a boss so difficult that the entire Clan is needed to defeat him...or her...or most commonly, it. As of 2015, each raid boss is defended by an army of almost 12,000 mechs, in waves of random composition and number (but always between 16 and 24 mechs). Unlike prizes in Clan Wars, raid prizes are determined by the number of mechs a player destroys: Clan leaders are responsible for setting a "cap", which stops high-level players from hogging all the kills. Raids are usually connected to the game's lore. Category:Lore Category:Politics